8 Ridiculous Fake Screenshots Developers Used To Fool Gamers

Videogame developers often use touched-up or sometimes completely faked screenshots in reveal trailers or PR assets to try and inflate the perception of their titles quality and make the games look great although they often end up looking like a downgraded version, and in extreme cases, completely different upon release. Here are some poignant examples.

The Witcher 3

No doubt The Witcher 3 is a wonderful game but they too resorted to some misleading marketing. When you look at the image above, you would find out that the horse shown is definitely not Roach. On the other hand the quality of the image shown is so high that it is impossible for most of the players to achieve at a playable frame rate.

Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag – Freedom Cry

This image from Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag – Freedom Cry is actually hilarious. When you look at the pirates closely, you would see that the guy on the far left is pointing, trying to show his mates where the assassin is although they already know. Photoshop much? Or poor A.I much?

Split Second

Split Second is not the only racing game to be a bullshot culprit as many racing games are guilty of using this tactic. We have no doubt that the game is a good looking one, but the above image looks like it overdosed on filters. This image would be a perfect one to post on Instagram.

Borderlands 2

The above image was taken in ultra high resolution and the comic styling was added to make their images pop up. Gearbox have also used detailed texture in the entire image irrespective of the distances of the object. This however has made the image look flat rather than caused the objects to pop out.

No Man’s Sky

This image from No Man’s Sky has no filters but is totally misleading. The giant creatures shown in this image were not actually part of the final game. The creatures shown here are not actually part of the initial game and the vegetation isn”t that tall in the game either.

This is probably one of the examples why No Man’s Sky is Currently under investigation by the Advertising Standards Authority in the UK.

Far Cry Primal

The image above shows two absolutely huge Mammoths and all the bloom lighting seems to have been emitted from them. There is no shortage of golden light in the image and the edges are extremely smooth and the figures are perfectly posed. We wish that was how the actual game looked all the time.

The Crew

Here is another racing game which joins the list. This shot from The Crew is perfectly taken, although unrealistic. We can see four cars aligned perfectly in the frame, all ready to go. We couldn’t just stop spotting the airplane, which is simply a cherry on top.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 3

Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 is a good looking game but the position of this image is nonsensical. Two soldiers can be seen firing at a mechanical man while the other is on his way to kick or punch his head. They even tried to focus on the explosion behind the scene, but it turned out insubstantial.

Crysis

I have no doubt that Crysis is a great game with amazing looks. However, this image doesn’t do justice to the game at all. Just look at that soldier falling on his back after getting lasered by the alien. It would have been better if he flew back, but who knows the laser could have blasted a hole into his chest.

Titanfall 2

If you have played Titanfall 2, you definitely came across this scene. This scene is awesome but doesn’t actually looks like this. The contrast in this image is super high and there is some kind of a super deep blue-black glow. The color balance in this image is not just right.